LOS ANGELES, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Beverly Hills police cannot
arrest or cite either of the drivers of two luxury cars caught
on video speeding along narrow residential streets over the
weekend because an officer did not witness the incident, a
spokesman said on Wednesday.

The video, which was posted online and broadcast by local
media, showed a Ferrari and a Porsche blowing past at least one
stop sign. The Ferrari's driver could also be heard revving the
engine and later pulling into a driveway with smoke rising from
the vehicle.

The video gained widespread attention after police said
someone involved in the incident on Saturday claimed diplomatic
immunity and that officers asked the U.S. State Department to
check on the status of a person from Qatar.

"At this point, we don't believe that anyone at that
location had any sort of immunity from anything," said Beverly
Hills police spokesman Lieutenant Lincoln Hoshino.

A State Department official, who declined to be identified,
said on Tuesday the agency had no information indicating anyone
involved was entitled to diplomatic or consular immunity.

Under California law, Hoshino said, a police officer would
have been required to witness the incident to make an arrest or
issue a traffic citation in the case.

"Clearly the video depicts this racing or this speeding
vehicle thing, which is completely egregious," Hoshino said.

"However, the officers did not observe the violation.
Whether or not this guy has diplomatic immunity is completely
irrelevant because the officers' actions would have been the
same."

Hoshino said police could not determine from the video who
was driving the cars.
(Reporting by Alex Dobuzinskis; Editing by Daniel Wallis and
Peter Cooney)